Russian President Vladimir Putin smiled and waved enthusiastically to his Chinese counterpart during virtual talks on Tuesday.

The ‘dear friends’ discuss Taiwan, the war in Ukraine, and future relations with the US, pledging to ‘defend their legitimate interests’

Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed ties with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, as the two face a more geopolitically assertive US government led by Donald Trump, who criticised the Kremlin's war against Ukraine on the first day of his second term as president.

Donald Trump is now the President of the USA and his counterparts from China and Russia have discussed plans to build ties with Washington.

Three years after launching his “special military operation” in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin faces a looming choice. In public, he exudes optimism. He has pulled his country back from the abyss and,

"All previously scheduled travel of refugees to the US is being cancelled," a State Department memo says, following an executive order from President Trump.

US president offers Putin chance to negotiate peace as Volodymyr Zelensky demands American troops join Western peacekeeping force

Putin and Xi praised strong bilateral ties, highlighting shared interests and global stability, as Trump began his term as the 47th US president.

By Dmitry Antonov and Guy Faulconbridge MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin held a video call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday in which he proposed further developing their strategic partnership just hours after Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States.

Donald Trump has threatened Vladimir Putin with ending his invasion of Ukraine “the hard way” unless the Russian leader comes to the table and agrees a peace deal.ln his usual bombastic style, the US president has called for the “ridiculous” war to stop now,

Speaking with Putin in a video meeting, Xi called for coping with uncertainties of the external environment with the stability and resilience of China-Russia relations, jointly promoting the development and revitalization of the two countries, and upholding international fairness and justice.